Short Interest in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Drops By 19.9%

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,579,798 shares, a drop of 19.9% from the March 31st total of 5,715,559 shares. Approximately 6.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 853,556 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $37.00 target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research lowered Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $39.20.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:APAM traded up $0.73 on Thursday, hitting $37.36. 1,051,748 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 740,304. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a 12 month low of $34.99 and a 12 month high of $48.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The asset manager reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.04). Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 72.99% and a net margin of 23.49%.The business had revenue of $303.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is currently 100.75%.

Institutional Trading of Artisan Partners Asset Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 132.1% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 469,370 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $20,371,000 after acquiring an additional 267,136 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 18.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 413,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,941,000 after acquiring an additional 64,625 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the third quarter valued at about $1,613,000. Ruffer LLP acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the third quarter valued at about $3,041,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 795.3% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 100,914 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,380,000 after acquiring an additional 89,642 shares in the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Company Profile

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc is a global investment management firm that specializes in active, fundamental research-driven strategies across a range of equity, fixed income and alternative asset classes. Founded in 1994 by Andrew Ziegler, the company has built a reputation for its team-based approach to portfolio construction, emphasizing deep sector expertise and independent analysis. Its product lineup includes U.S. and international equity strategies, global emerging markets, as well as credit and multisector fixed income offerings.

Artisan Partners serves a diverse client base that spans institutional investors, intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals located in North America, Europe and Asia.